Update:Oxfam Great Britain’s CEO, Mark Goldring, responding to inquiries about the NGO’s relationship with SodaStream’s new ‘global ambassador’ Scarlett Johansson, has stated in an email:

“Oxfam is opposed to trade from Israeli settlements, in which Sodastream is engaged. Israeli settlements are illegal under international law and have a devastating effect on the lives and livelihoods of the Palestinian communities that Oxfam works with. Trade with businesses operating in settlements exacerbates the ongoing poverty and denial of Palestinians’ rights that Oxfam addresses in its work.

“We have made our concerns known to Ms. Johansson and we are now engaged in a dialogue on these important issues. “

FORTUNE — Boycotting businesses for political reasons is often a complicated affair. There are always trade-offs. Take SodaStream (SODA), for example. The company’s home-carbonation gizmos reduce pollution and enable people to avoid buying bottles and cans of unhealthy soda from giant corporations like Coca-Cola (KO) and PepsiCo (PEP).

For those reasons, SodaStream is especially popular among socially conscious types. But now many of those people are learning that the product’s maker isn’t some little hippie-run outfit based in Taos, N.M., or Burlington, Vt., but is in fact an Israeli firm that has a manufacturing plant in the occupied West Bank, and so has been deemed a purveyor of “blood bubbles.”

Ynet’sBusiness and Finance section says SodaStream’s success has been “overshadowed by a political cloud, which is threatening” to both the company and their spokesperson, Johansson. It cites Stoeffel’s piece, and includes quotes from Henry Norr and Ali Gharib.

Controversy fizzes up around SodaStream over their use of factories in the West Bank just as Scarlett Johansson signs on to be the company’s first global ambassador

And everybody’s favorite fishwrap, that bastion of integrity the NY Post, championed Johansson: “instead of answering BDS jeers, she simply said she loves the brand” (Free Beacon and Breitbart repeat the statement). Hmm, really? I thought she said that before the jeers started. Seriously, has anyone heard a peep out of Scarlett since this controversy erupted after the announcement of her global ambassadorship of SodaStream? Because last we heard, mum’s still the word from Scarlett.

Bottom line, despite efforts by Haaretz to characterize the SodaStream controversy as no big deal, this is not a non issue. Maybe the average Joe in Kansas has not heard of SodaStream or the boycott against it. But among the hipsters and the activist and the simply well-informed, everyone now knows SodaStream is controversial. Everyone.

And though the “blood bubbles” team has the bucks to hire film crews to promote lies about the occupation, boycotters have the web, pro bono graphic artists, and word of mouth. And every dollar spent on promoting SodaStream is now boosting the exposure of this apartheid product, making it an international target for raising awareness. Superbowl anyone? It’s game on.

While the commercial would give the company major exposure, the BDS movement said it “will be an opportunity for us to shine a spotlight on SodaStream’s active participation in Israeli occupation, colonization and apartheid.”

131 Responses

Dumb move on her part. But Hollywood is a giant racket she is likely filling her coffers before the ride is over. All of Hollywood’s big moguls are pro-Zionist and maybe this is one way to get new roles. Someone took her aside and said scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.

On January 10, 2014, occupation profiteer SodaStream announced that Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson had become their first-ever Global Brand Ambassador. Her first act in her role will be starring in SodaStream’s Super Bowl ad, which will be aired during the game’s fourth quarter on February 2.

Scarlett happens to be an Oxfam Global Ambassador, a role that includes a responsibility to “push forward the fight against poverty and injustice.”

Soda Stream is more expensive than store bought soda when all costs are added in.

It is not healthier, just more expensive.

THAT BEING SAID, THIS IS NOT THE POINT!

Even the production in Judea and Samaria is not the point.

The ultimate point is: Who should have sovereign ownership over the land.

I am not so stupid as to say that Israeli Jews are innocent. Far from it; but the other side seems to think the Palestinians are innocent – an equally, if not more so, ridiculous claim.

Israel will not yield to boycotts. She is not South Africa. She has placed herself at the top rung, the very top rung, of technology. The world needs Israel more than Israel needs the world. South Africa never had that edge. South Africa survived on diamonds, gold, chromium, and ore.

Israel does not need that; but now has oil and gas.

The ultimate fight is over who owns the land … sovereignty.

I admit that Israelis settlers can be cruel; but have you ever seen the rock attacks on cars by Palestinians.

Again, this is pointless.

Right or wrong, Israel will not retreat. Right or wrong, she wants a Jewish majority state.

Israel is going into paranoia mode. When a nation with more nukes than England, and the means to deliver them, reaches this point, it is dangerous.

On top of that, there is a moral fact: Israel has a claim on the land.

I do not say that everything Israel does is right, but Israel has a claim on the land.

No good will come of this fight.

If you want to make an issue then work for civil rights for the Palestinians, or better yet, pay them to move to Latin America; but threatening Israeli sovereignty will only end in nuclear war.

BTW: Scarlett Johannsen is not pretty. I do not like that Jay Leno Jaw of hers.

A ‘moral fact’? lol. You cannot be serious. There is zero that is moral or factual about your so-called ‘claim’ to the land. Palestinians don’t just have a ‘claim’, it is their land. Enough of the pathetic bogus threats and macho posturing. Who cares what you think about Scarlett Johannsen’s looks, you think it matters?
And lastly: Israel, whatever it is, a virtual state, a garrison, a colony – is most definitely not a ‘she’ – how bizarre, perverse and ridiculous. Fail.

Suddenly my cold is much better!!!! Laughter really is the best medicine!!!!

“On top of that, there is a moral fact: Israel has a claim on the land.”

I will reflect on and enjoy this statement all day long. You see, like Israel, I have a “claim” on some land I want. In my case it is just a modest little house and garden in Victoria, B.C., just across the Strait of Juan de Fuca from where I now live in Washington state. I haven’t acted on my “claim” because I didn’t realize that just “having a claim,” however illegitimate, was enough.

Okay, my ancestors don’t claim to have lived in Canada millennia ago. I will pick out a nice little farm in Denmark, Norway, or Sweden. My family was in all of those places less than 100 years ago, so I’m good to go! Who knew that property acquisition abroad would be so easy?

I can’t wait to get over there and push some lowlife Scandinavian family out of their (but really my!) home.

Hey Kris you do have a historic claim. Polk ran for president in 1844 with the slogan “54-40 or fight” and won the election. The fact that he then appeased the British colonialist and reneged on his promise and agreed to the 49th parallel does not erase the original claim (at least by Zionist reasoning).

in israel they speak hebrew and 2000 years ago they spoke hebrew
they even minted coins with hebrew writing on them
but i agree with you ,jews have no claim to the land because kris said so
you know that in south africa in the apartheid years if you went to school in a rural area you learnt the language of the local tribe in
school

The problem as I see it for Zionism using that “colonialism worked for America so we are allowed to do it” is that it basically says whatever the strong decide goes. And it says essentially that if the Arabs ever have a technological advantage then they can take it back. Because let’s be realistic- the “you are only Jewish if your mother is” is not conducive to serious long term population growth. The Bots say it will never happen, the Arabs are permanently useless.

so whose land are you living on in washington state.can you speak one word of the indian tribe that lived there 100 year ago

Doesn’t that apply to the Jewish Federation in Seattle and its members too? After all, the Jews colonized America along with everyone else and we are all subsidizing the colonization of Palestine. Unlike Israel, we have given all of the Native American victims citizenship, equal rights under the law, the right to vote, and have recognized the right of tribal self-determination. When are the Israel’s going to follow our example in that connection?

The problem as I see it for Zionism using that “colonialism worked for America so we are allowed to do it” is that . . .

Actually most people in the Middle East spoke Aramaic 2000 years ago. Or Greek. Useful languages Aramaic and Greek – lots of people spoke them all over the place, great for trade of ideas and things. Hebrew, the language of a xenophobic bunch of malcontents not so much. And Hebrew’s role at the period is still debated, but at most it was one of many languages spoken in the area and even then probably by only a minority. And it was definitely dead by 200 C.E. However all that actual, you know, real history stuff aside – does that mean if I learn some, let’s say, Classical Latin I can then move to Italy, kick an Italian out of their homes (hey they’re probably descended from Lombards anyway) and take over? Or maybe some Ancient Greek? Kind of fancy a little house on an Aegean island…..

…they even minted coins with hebrew writing on them…

Yeaaaaaahhhhhhsssss. Tell me does “Annuit Coeptis” or “Novus Ordo Seclorum” sound like English to you?

…jews have no claim to the land because kris said so…

No Jews (as in recent settlers not the indigenous Jewish population) have no claim to the land because it belongs to other people and has done for a very very very long time. People actually DESCENDED from Jews who never left the area. People we now call “Palestinians.”

And here’s the thing – of you say “ah Jews come from there, therefore when they kick people off the land to make way for Jews that’s perfectly valid” then you also validate every single expulsion of and confiscation from Jews in the Diaspora throughout history. Right up to and including those forced by a certain Austrian corporal.

From what I read, Hebrew and Phoenician were basically the same language and with the same alphabet. Jews were never a very separate people. One of Hebrew words for G..d is Elohim, and Phoenicians used that word for their gods as a group. That explains why the prophet constantly complained about multiple gods worshipped by the Israel. In any case, Phoenicians were the main trading nation of the Mediterranean and beyond, sailing even to England (because of the tin in Cornwall), and during that time Hebrew/Phoenician was useful in a wide area. Greeks and other Mediterranean nations (Latins, Etruscans) adopted writing from them.

mk writes: The world needs Israel more than Israel needs the world. and then Israel is going into paranoia mode. When a nation with more nukes than England, and the means to deliver them, reaches this point, it is dangerous. and but threatening Israeli sovereignty will only end in nuclear war.

Oh the cries of Zionist desperation and empty threats are sweet sounds.

The world may need the people, the land and the resources, but the world does not need Israel and it certainly doesn’t need a supremacist “Jewish State”. (The world doesn’t need any supremacist states.)

>> On top of that, there is a moral fact: Israel has a claim on the land.

It’s funny to see a Zio-supremacist use the word “moral” in such an incorrect context. They really seem not to know (or care) what actual morality is.

The fact is: Israel has a legally-recognized claim on the part of Palestine that falls within its / Partition borders. That’s it.

And the fact that Israel has a claim on that part of Palestine does not translate into “the Jews” having a claim on it. Unless you’re a hateful and immoral Zio-supremacist.

Israel’s claim on the land is like all of humanity’s claim on going back to Africa as their homeland. It’s totally stupid. Why should anybody pay Palestinians to move to Latin America? Bring on the nuclear war with Israel to accomplish justice in this world; the USA should attack Israel if Israel does not get reasonable after the US ends all aid to Israel.

If the USA would end all aid including the use of its veto in UNSC, and if the EU would just step up its trade embargo a bit — moving gradually from OPTs manufactures (and farm produce) to all-Israel, but doing it bit-by-bit, beginning with farm-produce and moving along to war-materiel, Israel would have a gradual life-threatening experience rather than anything to go to war about, and its corporations would force the government to do whatever the EU and USA demanded.

What would they demand? I don’t know. With past as prolog, not much, I’m afraid. What I’d hope is that the demand would be at least to remove all settlers, the wall, and all settlement buildings, end the siege on Gaza and reverse all land confiscations.. But something about the exiles of 1948 would be useful. And sharing water and Mediterranean oil/gas.

The point about doing it gradually is the same as the point of the frog which boils in water that has its temperature raised slowly. Instead of a violent act against Israel possibly leading to a nuclear holocaust, there’d be a chance for Israeli democracy to kick in — in the common emergency — and find a path to peace with justice and, of course, legality.

Well thank you for that seafoid. We all know that Israel is a nuclear power and we all know that they are threatening the world with nuclear war if they are not allowed to continue to oppress the Palestinians. Israel does believe it has its finger on the nuclear button. It really does not if we look at what nuclear weapons can really do.

If Israel launches nuclear war, they will be toast. Eighty per cent of Israelis Jews live in about 4 nuclear blast zones centered on Tel Aviv. It is a tiny country. Even small countries like Japan and England would require dozens of nuclear bombs to reduce their populations significantly. China, the US, Russia, India might suffer serious casualties but their nations would survive. But not Israel. It would literally be toast.

This still has to be one of the stupidest things Israel has done in the last 60 years. They could not begin to survive a nuclear war. And it was the current president Perez that led Israel to become a nuclear power. Talk about suicidal tendencies. It is some kind of Massada complex that drives Israel.

Toivo, as a general rule, Israelis are scared of dying and this is evident in their psyche, so they would never ever pull the nuclear trigger on anyone or even less, do the Samson thing.

As to Massada itself, it was proved that this is one more case of Zionist-inspired mythology. Much was written about it being a fraud, an example:

“… Most Israeli archaeologists now accept that what really happened at Masada was very different from the picture painted by Professor Yigael Yadin, the archaeologist and former chief of staff of the Israeli army, who carried out the highly publicised excavations in 1963-65. At a cost of about pounds 920,000 in current values, mostly provided by British donors including the Observer newspaper, Professor Yadin claimed to have found evidence for the heroic version of what happened at the fortress.

The project was always more bizarre than the hundreds of Israeli and foreign volunteers who worked on the site might have realised. The only literary source is Josephus Flavius, the Jewish historian who had himself taken part in the revolt before joining the Roman side. His account says that the defenders of Masada took no part in the war against Rome during the siege of Jerusalem, but instead plundered local villages including En Gedi on the Dead Sea, where “women and children, more than 700 in number, were butchered”.

Could you lay out for us the legal basis for Israel’s claim of a sovereign right to the land? To make your analysis easier to follow, break it down into 3 parts and address seperately:
1. Israel’s sovereign right to the portion of Israel delineated in the UN’s recognition of Israel as a sovereign state.
2. Israel’s sovereign right to the portions of Palestine conquered by it in 1948-49.
3. Israel’s sovereign right to Palestinian and Syrian land it conquered, occupied and annexed during and after the 1967 war including the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the original old Jerusalem mentioned in the 1947 UN Partition Plan for Palestine, and the Golan Heights.

irishmoses- Israel’s sovereign right to the partition plan’s Jewish state territory is based upon the partition plan.

Israel’s sovereign right to all territory held before 1967 is based upon Resolution 242, which states as its goals:

Withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict;
(ii) Termination of all claims or states of belligerency and respect for and acknowledgment of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every State in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force.” [4]

Although this does not explicitly state that the boundaries of June 4, 1967 are the boundaries that are being referred to, everyone who was involved in the writing of the text of resolution 242 would have told you (at the time) and would tell you today that this is what resolution 242 was referring to.

@ yonah fredman “Israel’s sovereign right to all territory held before 1967 is based upon Resolution 242″

UNSC res 242 was only in respect to the “recent conflict” and was between the “state”s at war. Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt. NOT Palestine.

Withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict;

“Although this does not explicitly state that the boundaries of June 4, 1967 are the boundaries that are being referred to, everyone who was involved in the writing of the text of resolution 242 would have told you (at the time) and would tell you today that this is what resolution 242 was referring to”

Twaddle. It only refers to what it refers to. I.e., the the “recent conflict” and;

(ii) Termination of all claims or states of belligerency and respect for and acknowledgment of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every State in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force

Not negotiations over boundaries but respect for and acknowledgment of … recognized boundaries!

“what resolution 242 was referring to” is clearly state in the Israel/Egypt Peace Treaty

Convinced of the urgent necessity of the establishment of a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in the Middle East in accordance with Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338;

Reaffirming their adherence to the “Framework for Peace in the Middle East Agreed at Camp David,” dated September 17, 1978;

Noting that the aforementioned Framework as appropriate is intended to constitute a basis for peace not only between Egypt and Israel but also between Israel and each of its other Arab neighbors which is prepared to negotiate peace with it on this basis;

Desiring to bring to an end the state of war between them and to establish a peace in which every state in the area can live in security

I dunno fer sure … but judging from the reception you’ve gotten here so far with this one, your screed might get better play with your fellow neocons, for whom you write over there @ American Stinker … errr … I mean Thinker …

Ah the samson option, taking the world down with them. “israel must be like a mad dog too dangerous to bother”… do you know what they do with “mad dogs” they put them down before they bite someone and believe that will happen before Israel pulls a samson.

so tell us konrad, who exactly is the paranoid mad dog going to attack as a consequence of the boycott of a fizzy beverage producer? you’d be performing an act of unparalleled compassion if you could forewarn the potential victims of Israel’s impending nuclear tantrum. might even get your name on the memorial we are planning to erect in honor of ‘righteous non-gentiles’.

so tell us konrad, who exactly is the paranoid mad dog going to attack as a consequence of the boycott of a fizzy beverage producer?

The last time I checked, Pakistan is a member of the nuclear arms club. Nonetheless, the USA has been poking Pakistan in the eye with a sharp stick for several years now, by carrying out drone attacks on its sovereign territory despite its public objections. Konrad is suggesting that Israel’s nuclear weapons would prevent the great powers from removing Israeli settlements through peaceful means or otherwise, but that isn’t necessarily so.

Yeah and the land it’s sitting on is stolen from people who want it back for their uses. 30 percent of it was plundered from private Palestinian owners who don’t necessarily owe other Palestinians a living off of ill-gotten gains.

I was talking the illegal settlement as a whole, but since you asked:
According to the 2002 B’Tselem report provided in the exhibits to the ICJ in the Wall case, when the occupation began, the land owned by Jews before 1948 and administered by the Jordanian Custodian of Enemy Property in the West Bank was estimated at 30,000 dunums out of a total area of 5.50 million dunums (a dunum is 1,000 sq.m.). These lands were located mainly in the Jerusalem metropolitan area and the Etzion Bloc, situated south of Jerusalem. By 2003, land appropriated, inter alia, for illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank (including Jerusalem) constituted 2,346,000 dunums i.e. 41.9 percent of the total area of the West Bank.

The notion that Israeli’s get to keep plundered land and that the Palestinian inhabitants have to look for land they can use elsewhere is nonsense. Daniel Birnbaum, the Sodastream CEO, and the responsible Israeli officials are violating the prohibition against pillage contained in Article 28 of the Hague rules of 1907 and they belong behind bars. The only thing the Palestinians need to do is set-up their own Wiesenthal-style centers around the globe and go after these criminal scumbags.

It was the ICTY, not the ICJ, and they kept him in jail until he died of natural causes.

Hostage. How does building a manufacturing plant and paying locals well above the standard wage, constitute ‘pillage’?

It converts stolen property in the occupied territory for the private use of lizard-brained criminals. Raphael Lemkin gave an explanation for anyone who actually needs one:

6. The Problem of the Colonists.

The problem of the colonists is specific because many thousands of them have been settled on properties of dispossessed persons. The fact that many of them, especially those coming from the Baltic States, Transylvania, and Bukovina, were moved against their will, may exclude their penal responsibility in assisting the enemy in acts of dispossession but does not provide any valid title to the property on which they are settled. In cases where colonists have been settled on state property, the legal situation remains the same. The occupant has the right only to the usufruct of real property belonging to the state in the occupied country; he has no right to dispose of such property and convey title to it to other persons. Consequently, the property given by the occupant to the colonists should be returned to the original owners.

Richard Goldstone didn’t see it that way. He said that Prosecutors should simply indict the responsible individuals if that is where the evidence leads. He related that the negative political assessment of UN Secretary-General Boutros-Ghali over the timing of the original indictment of Radovan Karadzic had been incorrect. Had he not been indicted, the Dayton Accords would not have been brokered and more people would have died. How do you know that an indictment of Netanyahu or the Sodastream CEO wouldn’t lead to a brokered peace agreement?

Simon Wiesenthal stressed that if Karadzic were ever indicted at least he would know, that if he didn’t immediately face trial, he would be hunted for the rest of his days – and that is exactly what happened. Wiesenthal felt that was the only way to deter other would-be-criminals. See You Tube, “Conversations with History – Richard J. Goldstone” , and Richard Goldstone “For Humanity: Reflections of a War Crimes Investigator”, Yale University Press (August 11, 2000), ISBN 9780300082050, pp 93-103

Israeli laws don’t prevent crimes, but everyone has noticed that never stopped the Jewish State from employing them to put disproportionate numbers of Palestinians behind bars.

Among other things, the Hague Conventions allowed Simon Wiesenthal the satisfaction of hounding criminals for the rest of their lives after WWII. They can be used by Palestinians to either put Israeli criminals behind bars or to make them look over their shoulder for the rest of their days and to make their accomplices forfeit the proceeds. You aren’t very clever, so have an adult explain justice for you.

“Simon Wiesenthal stressed that if Karadzic were ever indicted at least he would know, that if he didn’t immediately face trial, he would be hunted for the rest of his days – and that is exactly what happened”.

Goldstone and Wiesenthal, do not live in the real world.

Karadzic had no patrons to protect him. The Assad family has big patrons in Russia, Iran and China, who have sworn to protect him so that he will never get even close to a courthouse.

Real world vs fantasy, fairy law world.

BTW.Will any of the desert princes funneling arms into Syria see an indictment?
Will any of the nameless, faceless jihadis face prosecution for their part in the carnage?

The ultimate point is: Who should have sovereign ownership over the land.

I thought:

Good. Somebody gets it.

When he said:

When a nation with more nukes than England, and the means to deliver them, reaches this point, it is dangerous.

I thought:

This guy is good.

When he said:

Scarlett Johannsen is not pretty. I do not like that Jay Leno Jaw of hers.

I thought:

WTF????

When he said:

On top of that, there is a moral fact: Israel has a claim on the land.

I thought:

Wow, this crazy Zionist is so far out there he must have a huge, blue Star of David tattooed on his face.

I mean, if you’re going to come dancing into MW and argue that Israel has a valid claim of sovereignty to the West Bank, you gotta’ be draggin’ brass ones, brother.

But I think you’re touching on a legal point that has merit and is being ignored.

According to the DM article linked to by annie, SODA is saving about 70% on rent by being in the WB. Now, that raises the question of who gets the 30% that’s paid? I mean, who has title to this land and the right to collect SODA’s rent?

If the settlers or other Israelis are getting the rent b/c they have taken the land or title to it away from Palestinians, then I’m going to be cheering with everybody else on MW when SODA’s stock flat-lines below $1.

BUT . . . if the land is held by Palestinians and SODA is paying them the rent, then what BDS is doing, essentially, is telling the Palestinians who they can and cannot rent to. IOW, that situation would mean you have one group of Palestinians trying to control another group of Palestinians’ land. I don’t think so . . . that would be a question of sovereignty, but not a question of Israel’s sovereignty.

This issue of Palestinians who profit from the occupation has always been a sensitive one, for without them there would be no settlements. When you see the photos of those very modern Jewish settlements and you know durn well that Palestinians were paid to build those beautiful homes and in some cases – E. Jerusalem according to one story – Palestinians sold the land to Jews, well . . . it sort of makes the whole all-Palestinians-are-victims POV go out the window. Some Palestinians are doing OK with the way things are going in the WB. Abbas comes to mind first.

Same thing w/ SODA. If they are leasing from Palestinians who have good title to that land, then it’s none of BDS’ business. It’s about a legitimate land owner’s right to rent to whomever they want.

But if the factory is built on land stolen by settlers, or if the access roads are built on land stolen by Israelis, or if there are any other elements of coercion, then Ms. Johansson needs to use whatever small amount of cerebral cortex she may have to rethink her position. I’m not sure what she does about her jawline that disturbs Mike so much, probably b/c it came from her father’s side.

According to the DM article linked to by annie, SODA is saving about 70% on rent by being in the WB. Now, that raises the question of who gets the 30% that’s paid? I mean, who has title to this land and the right to collect SODA’s rent?

You are talking about a plant located in an industrial park, Mishor Adumim, which is part of Ma’ale Adumim in Area C, under Israeli administration.

Ma’ale Adumim is an illegal settlement that started off as a Nahal, military outpost, i.e. land supposedly expropriated by the occupying power for military use that was actually pillaged for private use.

“You are talking about a plant located in an industrial park, Mishor Adumim, which is part of Ma’ale Adumim in Area C, under Israeli administration.”

Not just the cheap rent, but also the cheaper salaries paid to Palestinian workers as well as being located in a haven from Israeli taxes and enjoying various other subsidized benefits (water, electricity, security, garbage removal and dumping, non-existent environmental restrictions, etc) that comes from being in a settlement.

I got a reply: Thank you for writing and sharing your feedback. We are currently discussing this with other Oxfam affiliates, and we will respond in more detail to your email later this week, when we hope to have more information. Thank you for your patience, and please let me know if you have any further questions. Thank you for your support of our work.

We should also be directing our letters to Costco, Walmart, and other major retailers handling the product, as well as the National Football League, the NFL Players Association, the network handling the broadcast of the Superbowl (CBS?).

We could also direct our letters to the US agency that supervises fair trade regulations, informing it that SodaStream’s packaging violates US law by falsely claiming the product originates and is manufactured in Israel. Letters to congress people informing them of the this violation might be a useful reminder that the days of them getting a free pass for their unconditional support and promotion of Israel’s illegal actions are on the wane.

I can think of other targets, but that’s enough for now. Oh, how about letters to the distributors of Scarett’s films, threatening a boycott of those films?

This company are frauds as are everyone associated with them, in a report to the Nasdeq [stock exchange] they admitted [under the rules of that exchange they had to] that the risks of negative publicity associated with manufacturing in the West Bank were considerable, that report also exposes the manner in which the company conceals the fact that its products are manufactured in a West Bank settlement by using the Made in Israel label. The company, therefore misleads consumers to believe that its products are manufactured in Israel rather than in occupied land.

Macy’s is selling SodaStream. I don’t know how many units it sells in a day but the boxes are prominently exhibited on the 3rd floor of the clothing (huh?) department at the Burlington Mall in Massachusetts. Twice I have been there in the last couple of weeks. The first time, I spoke to a floor manager about the evil of the occupation and why Macy’s shouldn’t be selling the product. She was clueless, probably doesn’t know where I/P is etc. She recommended I write to customer service. On my way out, I knocked off a box that smashed loudly to the floor. No one was looking. I wrote a lengthy email to customer service and am still waiting for a reply….of course. The second time I went, I knocked off three boxes and yelped with glee.

“All of Hollywood’s big moguls are pro-Zionist and maybe this is one way to get new roles. Someone took her aside and said scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.”

Her agent no doubt, so who is that? Get the scoop on her agent!
If she did it on her own, which is highly doubtful, that’s really interesting, and should be pursued by everybody who gives a crap about social justice.

Personally, I’m guessing she was easy target for a sale of PR for Sodastream since she has self-identified as a “New York jew”, even though her daddy is not jewish. What is he in her eyes, chopped liver? Kinda like Obama when he characterized his grandmother on his mother’s side as “a typical white women.”

citizen, johansson is the only person to be named the sexiest woman in the world by (i think) GQ twice, and she’s a famous actress. this is mainstream american football audience, i highly doubt she was chosen for her “New York jew” bona fides. think about it. most people don’t care if she’s jewish or not, i don’t anyway.

@ Annie Robbins
I agree she’s going to advertise the bubbles to the American mainstream watching the Superbowl on Feb 2. I agree that’s because of her sexy celebrity beauty. But that does not mean a hook with her for those who want to sell lots of bubbles to the masses is not her self-described Jewishness. Why not ask Miley Cyrus?

Annie- Citizen is playing “How do I hate Jews? Let me count the ways.”

Thus if she is selling an Israeli product, then she is a Zionist and if she is a Zionist, not only is this loyalty to her mother who is Jewish, but automatically disloyalty to her father who is not Jewish. The Miley Cyrus thing has to do with Cyrus’s reference to the 70 year old Jewish man behind a desk who tells Miley what music to play, even though she is the one who goes to the discos and knows what the kids want to hear. ( A remark that Phil approved of because it threatens the power of Jews in Hollywood and that Citizen approves of, because it is close enough to Jew hatred to meet his approval.)

(I would not comment on this normally, for a boycott of products with their basis in the occupied territories is Peter Beinart territory and I approve of Beinart and that mode of thought. But Citizen cannot resist throwing in a few anti Jewish comments and I cannot resist reacting to Citizen’s foul remarks.)

annie: “what’s miley cyrus got to do with this? did she make some reference i missed?”

Yes, ma’am, you apparently missed a major news item. This thing has everything to do w/ Cyrus viz Johansson

Cyrus famously said she didn’t need a 70 yo Jewish guy to tell her how to run her career. Johansson is pretty obviously being handled by 70 yo pro-Israeli Jews. The contrast could not possibly be more striking.

Now let’s watch the trajectory of their careers. My guess is that they will both plummet to the ground w/in 18 months, but for completely opposite reasons.

Cyrus b/c, as Mel Gibson will tell you, you don’t ruffle Jewish feathers in show business.

SJ b/c, well, as you so perfectly said “It’s game on.” There’s BDS blood in the water and I doubt whether her stable of 70 yo Jewish handlers are going to be able to avert a PR disaster – for SJ or SODA.

Personally, I don’t twerk (except in the shower), but Cyrus is OK w/ me. Another of the 21st c. mavens at destroying entertainment decency standards and making huge money doing it. She shocks me most of all by proving – hey – you don’t actually need a Jewish handler to shake your ass and get rich. Simply being more crude than Madonna & Gaga is enough. Cyrus could be a wrecking ball to the whole entertainment paradigm if she’s not cut off soon.

Johansson, by comparison, is a bubble brain – in more ways than one. Stewart just had her on his show and I puked 45 seconds into the “interview.” I don’t even know if he asked her about SODA, which was the only reason I watched. This woman couldn’t navigate her way from the limo to the curb w/out help. Everybody is attacking her personally for blowing SODA’s bubbles, but she’s just a puppet for the 70 yo Jews pulling her strings.

annie: “most people don’t care if she’s jewish or not, i don’t anyway.”

You are so right, and that’s such an important point. The world doesn’t love it’s entertainers b/c they are Jews or aren’t Jews, or Catholics, or gay, or any of that. Nobody cares — except the agencies and producers — and when they do care, it’s in a good way. When I found out (only recently) that Jimmy Durante was a Catholic, I was shocked and a little disappointed that one of my favorite “Jewish entertainers” was a Catholic, not that I have anything against the Pope. Durante was just more lovable when I thought he was different ethnically than my boring family, particularly my uncle, who also had a big nose and played piano. And who didn’t love Danny Thomas just a little bit more b/c of that Lebanese thing? Or Ricky Ricardo for being Cuban?

OTOH, I don’t admire Jon Stewart more or less b/c he’s a Jew; I just wish he’d stop reminding us. It’s good for us all to make fun of our own ethnicity now and then – which Thomas and Ricardo did – but not 3 times a week.

I don’t think admiring SJ more or less because of her bona fides was Citizen’s point. Today Jewish bona fides don’t get you public adoration, they get you access to the stage.

Cyrus may be crude, she may be disgusting, but she got to where she is by her (Disney-period) talent and her (post-pubertal) butt and brains – she obviously doesn’t need a 70 yo Jewish agent to tell her how to get from the limo to the curb. Not so for SJ. Too bad for her that her agents are Israel-firsters who can’t read the writing on the Wall.

yonah, denis, yes i already know about miley’s comment about the 70 yr old guy behind a desk. just not clear how it applies. what does miley know about self-described Jewishness? anyway, whatever. still have no idea what citizen means here:

I agree that’s because of her sexy celebrity beauty. But that does not mean a hook with her for those who want to sell lots of bubbles to the masses is not her self-described Jewishness. Why not ask Miley Cyrus?

Stoeffel’s New Yorker article was wrong, lazy and dismissive journalism. She writes:

in occupied territory in the West Bank, a fact that enrages a politically informed, far-left segment of the liberal-yuppie demographic the product is marketed to.

Has Stoeffel done a survey of who buys SS?

If the product were marketed to a “far-left” segment of the “liberal-yuppie” demographic, SS would not be spending gazillions on a Super Bowel ad, of all things. The market for this is the general home products consumer who falls for gadgets and likes sodas and believes they are saving by buying SS cartridges and flavors . (What ever happened to simple tap water with a bit of lemon and ice?)

This “enrages” all informed people of conscience. (Enrage is code, for “making them hysterical.”) Has nothing to do with left, or right, yuppie, young or old.

Why do Israeli politicians foam at the mouth about BDS? Why do they constantly try to outlaw it?

There should however be a special section for your posts, I even have the title “Russians who believe they have more right to land in the Middle East than those who’s families have resided there for generations” or more succinctly “bigot”

Yes, since we fund the Israeli government, and SodaStream gets large governmental tax benefits for locating in the Occupied Territories. According to their SEC filings:

As one of our manufacturing facilities is located in disputed territory sometimes referred to as the “West Bank,” rising political tensions and negative publicity may negatively impact demand for our products or require us to relocate additional manufacturing activities to other locations, either of which may adversely affect our business.

One of our manufacturing facilities is located in Mishor Adumim, an industrial zone under Israel’s authority and whose governing responsibility is the subject of dispute between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Mishor Adumim is currently under Israeli jurisdiction and authority according to the Oslo Accords signed with the Palestinian Authority. There has recently been negative publicity, primarily in Western Europe, against companies with facilities in these disputed territories. A number of political groups have called for consumer boycotts of Israeli products originating in these disputed territories, including our products. Though we manufacture our products in other locations in Israel (Alon Tavor, Ashkelon, Kiryat Shmona, etc.) and elsewhere in the world, and are currently building a new manufacturing site in southern Israel, this may not persuade such political groups sufficiently to end their call to boycott our products. In addition, the Palestinian Authority has adopted legislation that may prohibit or restrict Palestinians from working for Israeli companies with productions facilities located in disputed territories. Further, recently there have been voices in the European Union and other countries calling to mark the country of origin of products produced in the disputed territories as being produced in Israeli settlements. For these reasons, we may in the future be required to transfer additional manufacturing activities to a location outside of the disputed territories, which may divert the attention of management, require the expenditure of significant capital resources and, depending on whether such move would be outside of a priority manufacturing area under Israeli tax law, may limit certain tax benefits. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

BillM “Though we manufacture our products in other locations in Israel (Alon Tavor, Ashkelon, Kiryat Shmona, etc.) and elsewhere in the world”
This is very misleading, the syrups which are only accessories to the main carbonating device are made in Ashkelon, more than 90% of the product [apart from a few small components outsourced to China] is manufactured in occupied territory, the other “so called facilities” are either agents or warehousing facilities with no production taking place there.

Whatever are talking about.There are no disputed territories in Occupied Palestine.

“”I cannot understand how someone claims that Israel is not an occupying force in the West Bank, after over forty years of government petitions to the High Court of Justice, citing authority as an occupying force in an occupied territory,” said Kretzmer.

That straw should read Apartheid. Scarlett, or rather the new face of Apartheid, doesn’t know yet that SodaStream is really an image wrecking ball. Picture this: Apartheid is the giant iceberg, SodaStream, the Titanic and Scarlett just boarded a sinking ship of fools. Bon voyage, Scarlett!

poor Mike Konrad. Sounds like he is going into suffering paranoia mode.

Fortunately Mike doesn’t speak for “Israel”. The boycott is certainly rattling the country, but Israel isn’t a mad dog frothing at the mouth and looking for targets to nuke. That’s the beauty of the boycott. It puts pressure on the government to change its policies, and fortunately, Israel has a parliamentary system; it is do-able, even if it requires a change in the governing coalition it is totally and non-violently do-able.

The Netanyahu coalition controls 68 of 120 seats, but N. has already been approached by dovish parties offering to form a new government with him, a new coalition that would settle with the Palestinians. I was reading just today the wikipedia page on the 2005 Israeli withdrawal from Gaza — lots of huge scary settler protest and general population protest over that but it got done quite expeditiously. If the IDF gets their marching orders, they will move out the West Bank settlers. No nukes.

Zionism is a model based on the assumption that there is no such thing as Palestinian. It has been iterating away since 1882 or whatever and it has poured concrete all over ahla Falastin. Scarlett has no f$cking clue but not even her ravishing eyebrow can rescue the memes at this stage.

Dance music is like a set of iterations. I think there are some new memes that are gaining currency and one of them is that late stage Zionism is completely irrational. Sorry Scarlett. Heek, ya’ni.
This music would be it for me.

What the big deal about buying water in plastic bottles?
Most everyone I know has one of those green recycle bins for bottles provided by the trash collector or whoever it is that puts them out , we’ve had one for so long I cant even remember where it came from but it gets picked up and emptied by the trash service or whoever put them out.
Dont the yuppies or whoever buys SS recycle?

thanks herb, that’s actually my last link/blockquote in the article. and of course i recommend opening all the links. lots of readers don’t do that but i always do. it’s time consuming but to get a real feel for a story context is important.

Electronic Intifada catches The New York Post in a lie in regards to Scarlett’s alleged statement dismissing BDS activists:
“New York Post reports on Scarlett Johansson SodaStream statement that never happened”
“In an article entitled “Scarlett Johansson stands tall against Israel boycotters,” the Post’s Benny Avni praises Johansson for her “casual dismissal of the BDS crowd,” referring to the movement to pressure Israel to comply with international law through the use of boycott, divestment, and sanctions.
The quote which Avni presents as a response to BDS activists is actually from the original press release issued by SodaStream to announce the deal on 11 January. Activists did not begin contacting Johansson or the media until after the release was issued and the first mainstream outlet to report on the deal and mention the existence of a boycott campaign was Israel’s Haaretz on 12 January.”link to electronicintifada.net

actually TGM, we published first, so technically the ‘catch’ is in the article above the thread:

“And everybody’s favorite fishwrap, that bastion of integrity the NY Post, championed Johansson: “instead of answering BDS jeers, she simply said she loves the brand” (Free Beacon and Breitbart repeat the statement). Hmm, really? I thought she said that before the jeers started. Seriously, has anyone heard a peep out of Scarlett since this controversy erupted after the announcement of her global ambassadorship of SodaStream? Because last we heard, mum’s still the word from Scarlett.”

Did you see the latest viewer ratings for CNN? Could almost count them on one hand. The youth do not watch “mainstream media” and one reason is that there are almost no honest and fair “mainstream media” organizations out there. Most are agenda driven and preach to the choir.
Unlike in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s when the population tuned into the same channels and could be brainwashed, these days good folks can find the full picture by going to a variety of websites. And many of the good folks do just this. And many of the good folks are not buying the pro-Palestinian, anti-Israeli garbage that you are trying to sell.
Sodastream is a great product and good for the environment. Many Palestinians work at the factory’s. The factories build and encourage understanding between Arab and Jew, but that is the last thing that Annie wants. And don’t tell us that the settlements are “the” obstacle to peace again, please. “They may not be the main obstacle but we must start somewhere”, is what they like to tell us, again ignoring the realities of the Arab world. The Palestinians are not deserving of the type of support you are all too keen to shower on them. They are not your innocent bystanders in the conflict and have a lot to take responsibility for.

The youth do not watch “mainstream media” and one reason is that there are almost no honest and fair “mainstream media” organizations out there. Most are agenda driven and preach to the choir.

[…]these days good folks can find the full picture by going to a variety of websites. And many of the good folks do just this. And many of the good folks are not buying the pro-Palestinian, anti-Israeli garbage that you are trying to sell.

The Palestinians are not deserving of the type of support you are all too keen to shower on them.

Look, colonist – the reason people do not watch TV media as much as they used to is because of the Internet.

The Internet exists. That’s all.

It’s more accessible and caters to every point of view.

TV news does not cater to every point of view. TV news is not as accessible (and never will be as accessible).

MW is not representative of mainstream American TV news.

MW is one of those websites, that as you explain – ‘good folks’ go to to find the ‘full picture’.

MW is no different from other websites – even Zionist ones – that cater to a certain point of view.

There is no Israel/Palestine website/blog that will satisfy all political alignments. This is a conflict about land and between two people with historical grievances and a lopsided power dynamic.

The mainstream media is PRO-ISRAEL. Rejecting the mainstream media means EITHER: rejecting pro-Israel GARBAGE or thinking the pro-Israel garbage is not pro-Israel enough (hence why you trolls think Arutz Sheva is a beacon of journalistic integrity).

There is no such thing as absolute impartiality anyways – unless you want a listing of the facts.

And if that were the case, Zio, Israel would STILL come out looking like the apartheid Jewish supremacist colonial-settler State that it is.

Israel kills more civilians. Israel violates more IHL. Israel gets away with more crimes. Israel exhibits more casual racism and hatred AND it’s a self-described ‘Western democracy’. Israel is a colonial settler-state and the settlements keep expanding. Israel profits from the occupation and colonialism. Etc.

All these facets of the conflict could be listed without narrative and a narrative would inevitably come to mind – that Israel is a Jewish supremacist colony in the Arab world and in the ruins of Arab Palestine.

The Palestinian people of the OPT support the boycott.

They would gladly trade your propaganda regarding ‘Jewish-Arab relations’ working in under Jewish colonial rule in a SodaStream factory – FOR FREEDOM and LIBERATION from Zionism.

@ giladg “Unlike in the 60′s, 70′s and 80′s when the population tuned into the same channels and could be brainwashed, these days good folks can find the full picture by going to a variety of websites.” …and get brain washed with bullsh*t like “the Balfour declaration gave Jews the right to a state in their homeland” or “the Mandate gave Jews the right to a state in their homeland” or “we made the desert bloom” .. “There was no such country as Palestine” .. etc

“And many of the good folks are not buying the pro-Palestinian, anti-Israeli garbage that you are trying to sell”… they buy Israeli Hasbara bullsh*t instead.

” Many Palestinians work at the factory’s.”

Don’t you think they’d rather work in a Palestinian factory free of Israeli occupation, in their own independent state and profit from their own resources instead of the profits lining the pockets of their occupiers?

“And don’t tell us that the settlements are “the” obstacle to peace again, please.”

Why not, the UNSC does! LOUD and clear

1. Determines that the policy and practices of Israel in establishing settlements in the Palestinian and other Arab territories occupied since 1967 have no legal validity and constitute a serious obstruction to achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East; link to unispal.un.org

Thanks again for affording the opportunity to show readers some factual material counter to your idiotic nonsense. xx

As the land in question was never controlled by the Palestinians (ever) the UNSC also says that a deal must be worked out between the parties about territories and it does not rule out land swaps if the two sides agree on them. The Palestinians do not want to negotiate with Israel as they know they will have to make adjustment to the 1967 lines including special arrangements in East Jerusalem that will not give them sovereignty over places they are keen to control. And some places will need to be shared as well. They prefer to rely on underhand tactics using the Europeans to lead boycotts. I say that the Palestinians have never entered into negotiation with Israel in good faith, even at Oslo with Arafat and that they always planned to use the Europeans as their whipping stick against the Jewish State. Hopefully Scarlett will stand with Israeli and stant fast against the evil being perpetrated from the BDS movement.

The Palestinians do not want to negotiate with Israel as they know they will have to make adjustment to the 1967 lines including special arrangements in East Jerusalem that will not give them sovereignty over places they are keen to control.

Why would they have to do that, when Security Council resolutions 62 and 73 say that Israel has to observe and implement the Armistice lines forever, unless the Arabs agree to make changes?

UN Security Council resolution 476 (1980) affirmed that the “acquisition of territory by force is inadmissible” and reaffirmed “the overriding necessity to end the prolonged occupation of Arab territories occupied by Israel since 1967, including Jerusalem”. It was a simple call for withdrawal, without reference to any conditions whatsoever. In the 1971 Nambia Advisory Opinion the Court advised that all UN member states have a treaty obligation to accept decisions adopted by the Security Council acting on their behalf and carry them out in accordance with Articles 24 and 25 of the Charter.

Is this Giglad character some robot set up by Palestinians to show up Zionists?
As if Palestinians had any need to negotiate anything with respect to the 67 armistice line or the status of Jerusalem. A pile of UN resolutions plus UNSC decisions (i.e. including even Americans) plus the Charter as international law are already telling the Zionists to get the hell out of there. There is no obligation to negotiate anything.

Thanks for the correction. I’ve been lurking on J Street’s FB page over the last couple of days just dropping corrections to the lies on there. No people in Palestine, RoR, Palestinians in 1947 being immigrants, Transjordan being part of Palestine. No Palestinian people pre 1967. It truly is frightening. Initially it seems that these people are propagandised and are simply regurgitating, but its when you challenge them with hard irrefutable facts that they cannot deny, they don’t want to hear or start making anti Semitic accusations.

@ FreddyV When lies have been perpetuated for generations they become a part of the fabric, psyche, belief system.

Facing them is truly frightening. I’ve been through it. From cheering in ’67, to my utter contempt today for the bullsh*t we have been fed AND the reasons for having been fed it.

Re-assessing a lifetime of beliefs is a hard task, especially when you’re likely to be ostracized from your community, even family and loved ones. It’s easier to refuse to look away, put up a wall, deny. Unfortunately, it only allows the frog to stay in the pot

I just read Benny Avni’s article in the NY Post.
I didn’t know the 1949 Armistice lines were obsolete or that Maale Edumim (sic) is part of Israel as it is on proposed maps.

Avni’s arguments are of the little-bit-pregnant variety: Ma’aleh Adumim is not really occupied because it had only been under non-Israeli control for 18 years when Israel seized it, and because it may come under full Israeli sovereignty some time in the future.

Maybe Soda Stream could come up with a new label (to replace its false “made in Israel” claim), reflecting Mishor Adumim’s “only a little bit occupied” status. “Made some place that was never really not Israel and may in fact become Israel some time in the future but we wouldn’t bet our lives on it” strikes me as a tad too wordy.

“We are proud of our relationship with Scarlett Johansson who has worked with Oxfam since 2005 to support Oxfam’s mission to end poverty and injustice. As an Oxfam Global Ambassador, she has travelled to India, Sri Lanka and Kenya to highlight the impact of traumatic disasters and chronic poverty, and she has helped to raise critical funds for life-saving and poverty-fighting work around the world. We deeply value her support.

Oxfam respects the independence of our ambassadors. However Oxfam believes that businesses that operate in settlements further the ongoing poverty and denial of rights of the Palestinian communities that we work to support. Oxfam is opposed to all trade from Israeli settlements, which are illegal under international law.

We have made our concerns known to Ms Johansson and we are now engaged in a dialogue on these important issues.”

I also wrote to Oxfam and have to say I’m not impressed by their response. Seems like they’re trying to fudge the issue. We all know the ‘settlements’ are illegal and harmful – Oxfam have said this before – so they’re not adding anything new. What’s clear is that they have NOT severed ties with Johansson, so we need to keep the pressure up.

they probably ‘engage in dialogue’ prior to dropping the hammer. that’s normal. i really do not think she can where 2 hats. remember, they dropped italian Paola Maugeri when she became the SS ambassador in italy.

They are giving her a chance to step out gracefully due to an overwhelming schedule or something like that. They can not keep her at this point. Too much attention on the obvious hypocrisy.

“However Oxfam believes that businesses that operate in settlements further the ongoing poverty and denial of rights of the Palestinian communities that we work to support. Oxfam is opposed to all trade from Israeli settlements, which are illegal under international law. “

@Mike_Konrad, above: “Israel is going into paranoia mode. When a nation with more nukes than England, and the means to deliver them, reaches this point, it is dangerous.”

I have been thinking a lot about your statement, Mike_Konrad. You are right, Israel is a threat to all life on earth.

At the hospital where I work as a registered nurse, when a patient is paranoid and may be a danger to himself or others, we take immediate action. We put him in an isolated room, from which we have removed everything that could be used to inflict harm. If necessary, we use chemical and/or physical restraints. We assign a nursing assistant to sit at the door of the room and observe the patient. We take patient and staff safety very seriously.

If Israel were our patient, we would isolate him, take away everything he could use to inflict harm on anyone, restrain him as necessary, and transfer him to a psychiatric hospital ASAP.

Since Israel has weapons of mass destruction, no inhibitions about destroying the lives of non-Jews, and cultivates paranoia on a national scale from generation to generation, it is way past time that the world community acted to isolate, restrain, and treat Israel before Israel lashes out in a paranoid rage and destroys life on earth.

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